RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

Share

Trump tweeted late on Monday night: 'James Comey’s behind closed doors testimony reveals that “there was not evidence of Campaign Collusion” with Russia when he left the FBI. In other words, the Witch Hunt is illegal and should never have been started!'

'In other words, the Witch Hunt is illegal and should never have been started!'

He also referenced Fox Business anchor, Lou Dobbs, and quoted: 'Former FBI Director James Comey under fire for his testimony acknowledging he knew that the Democrats paid for that phony Trump Dossier.'

This is a reference to Trump's belief that Comey used a Democrat funded dossier produced by former British spy, Christopher Steele, as part of his probe.

Comey batted away questions by committee members, saying he knew very little about the document or who had funded it.

Trump's Tweets followed similar assertions made by the President over the weekend in which he claimed he had been vindicated by court filings published on Friday which set out the level of cooperation from two of his former top advisers, whom prosecutors have accused of lying to federal investigators or Congress.

The president cites the filings in the cases of his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, and campaign chairman Paul Manafort, as proof that no collusion had been found in the special counsel's investigation.

However, the filings are part of an ongoing investigation and do not yet draw a conclusion.

Instead they lay out evidence of previously undisclosed contacts between Trump associates and Russian intermediaries.

Cohen admitted this month to lying to Congress by saying discussions about a Trump Tower in Moscow ended in January 2016 when in fact they stretched into that June, well into the presidential campaign.

Trump Tweeted late on Monday night a reference to Fox Business anchor Lou Dobbs, quoting: 'Former FBI Director James Comey under fire for his testimony acknowledging he knew that the Democrats paid for that phony Trump Dossier'

Former FBI boss James Comey talks to reporters after his closed House Judiciary Committee meeting on Friday; Trump claimed Comey's evidence cleared him of wrongdoing

Cohen said he never followed up on the proposed meeting, because he was working with a 'different individual' with connections to the Russian government.

Cohen also told prosecutors he and Trump discussed a potential meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in September 2015, shortly after Trump announced his candidacy for president.

In another filing, prosecutors said Manafort lied about his contacts with Russia and Trump administration officials, including in 2018.

Mueller's team cited Manafort's interactions with Konstantin Kilimnik, an associate who prosecutors say has ties to Russian intelligence.

In addition Trump still faces questions over whether he illegally bought the silence of two women who say they had sex with him.

Trump's Justice Department puts him in even greater legal jeopardy by directly implicating him in an illegal scheme involving hush money payments to a porn star.

Prosecutors in Manhattan connected the president to a federal crime for the first time by accusing him of orchestrating hush-money payments during the campaign.

His former lawyer, Cohen, made the payments to ex-Playboy bunny, Stormy Daniels. Cohen is due to be sentenced this week.

Although Cohen had previously implicated Trump in the payments, the Justice Department is now linking Trump to the scheme and backing up Cohen's allegations.

It is unclear whether Trump will actually be charged with illegal activity, because Justice Department legal memos from 1973 and 2000 have suggested that a sitting president is immune from indictment and that criminal charges would undermine the commander in chief's ability to do the job.